Most shameful world HW title fights.

[H8Usernames]

Perhaps I'll edit this later after reading some comments and put a final list below this one but here goes.

1. Nicolai Valuev VS David Haye
Haye was to blame for this one, ran like a useless chicken all night long, referee should have disqualified the fellow really.

2. Vitaly Klitschko VS Kevin Johnson
Kevin wasn't exactly participating in the fight but this fight also exposed Vitaly for all his limitations, if Vitaly really was this magnificent ko machine with flawless technique like people say he was then he would have put Kevin to sleep and not stood there looking like an idiot.

3. Anthony Joshua VS Andy Ruiz II
After suffering a brutal ko loss to Andy Ruiz in their first fight Anthony Joshua decided to try to impress his fans by running from Andy like a coward while displaying clumpsy boxing ability in their second fight, I won't dispute the decision, it was correct but a shameful event it was thanks to our hero AJ.

4. Lennox Lewis VS Henry Akinwande
Henry loved to hug, ridiculous performance on his part.

5. Johnny Ruiz VS almost everybody.
Hug, hit, hug, hit, hug hit. Such great technique, only HW champion ever that has lost a HW title to two former middleweight champions.

6. David Haye VS Wladimir Klitschko
Using the media to its full extent David managed to get a fight VS Wladimir and ran all night losing a wide decision. Afterwards he blamed his toe.

7. Lennox Lewis VS Oliver Mccall II
Oliver was outmatched from the start, he himself had not upped his game any and was facing a much better LL than the first time around, it was still amazing to see how Mccall was able to stand there and not get koed by LL while he wasn't participating in the fight anymore. The fight ended in tears.

8. Mike Tyson VS Evander Holyfield II
We all know what happened. A smart move by Tyson really, instead of just becoming some fighter that lost twice to glorious Holyfield what Mike opted to do was to add to his crazyman image and bite off Holyfields ear generating more attention for himself and maintaining some marketability.

9. Wladimir Klitschko VS Lamon Brewster II
Everyone knew that Lamon had health issues and eye issues before this fight and Lamon was even saying himself that he was only taking this fight for the money and he didn't believe that he could win. Who goes ahead with a fight like this?

10. James "Buster" Douglas VS Evander Holyfield
James Buster Douglas came in weighing 14.5 pounds more than he did against Mike Tyson and Holyfield made easy work of him. What would have happened if James had trained for the fight and shown up in shape? The fans who bought the tickets to that one will never know.

Honorable mention nontitle fight.
11. Riddick Bowe VS Andrew Golota II
What happened in the first fight was Andrew just being a dirty fighter and not aiming well resulting in many shots to Riddicks groin but in the second fight the fight started well for Andrew but Riddick stayed in it and when Riddick found a tiny bit of moment late in the fight Andrew took the easy way out punching Riddick in the groin with the intention of having the referee stop the fight.

[Duran1970]

Klitschko vs Fury

[oogiebe]

Klitschko vs Fury

At least most boring. Not really sure what the OP wanted here.

[Onetimeonly]

Klitschko vs Fury

That was the worst fight, not a shameful match up. Not sure what the list is made of, he probably isn't either. Dude thinks an Olympic wrestler couldn't beat a boxer in mma.

[gilgamesh]

Klitschko vs Fury

This is THE most shameful. Klitschko could've quit on his stool after the 1st round for no reason, and given the same effort that he wound up giving in the next 11 rounds.

One of the only examples I can think of where a long reigning Champion didn't even make an effort to defend his title.

A lot of the fighters the guy cited as "Shameful" aren't even.

Not really sure what the guy was trying to say with this thread, but he basically just makes himself look silly.

[DrDuke]

No really shameful fights are listed here. "Boring" because of being tactial isn't shameful. So, the likes of Haye-Valuev, Wlad-Haye, Fury-Wlad, Joshua-Ruiz II aren't fitting the list.

I agree on every John Ruiz bout, because they all were hugging contests, that was clearly an excessive holing for Ruiz in every damn case. That's a violation of boxing rules. Ruiz should have been disqualified in many of his fights. Furthermore, he even sometimes had corrupt judges behind him, like against Holyfield in the 3rd bout and against Golota. Although he himself was robbed against Valuev. Btw, Lewis-Akinwande is correctly choosed, Akinwande's case is an example of what should have been done with Ruiz.

Tyson-Holyfield II is a good example, because Tyson obviously performed like an idiot there, professional athletes on the elite level can't do like that. Lewis-McCall is about the same, as McCall was simply refusing to fight.

I'd make such list:

1. Tyson-Holyfield II - the fight spoiled because of severe intentional fouling.
2. Ruiz-Johnson - foulish hugging by Ruiz all the fight long, but eventually Johnson was DQed. Yes, fairly, but just Ruiz was unfairly not DQed earlier.
3. Lewis-McCall II - McCall refused to fight. It would be better for him if he just quitted, but he provided that bizarre surviving performance.
4. Ruiz-Holyfield III - again foulish hugging by Ruiz, awarding a draw for him. And no one needed this bout because of the fact that there already were two boring hugging contests of them.
5. Ruiz-Golota - trademark foulish hugging by Ruiz and a robbery.
6. Ruiz-Rahman - the same, although it's not a clear robbery, a win could be given to anyone here. There was just too much hugging and almost no boxing. Initiated by we know who.
7. Ruiz-Valuev I - The same, but surprisingly Ruiz finally looked clearly more convincing, than his opponent, but Valuev was ironically awarded a win.
8. Ruiz-Valuev II - almost a repetition of their first bout.
9. Page-Coetzee - Coetzee KOed long after the bell.
10. Valuev-Holyfield - an eventless bout and a robbery.

P.S. That's why I consider Ruiz the most shameful champ ever. Not literally the worst, but the most shameful. Valuev is about the same. A couple of the dirtiest spots on the history of boxing.

[gilgamesh]

The Ruiz vs Golota fight I always thought was strangely entertaining. There was a moment in there when John's dumbass trainer, and an interaction he had with the referee and then Don King afterward had me laughing my ass off. One of the funnier things I've ever seen in Boxing actually.

And yeah Ruiz vs Johnson was ridiculous. I remember Ruiz intentionally butting him at one point getting mad at Johnson's fouling. Sloppy as all hell. Ruiz definitely stank the joint out constantly.

To call Wlad's performance against Fury "tactical" is being extremely kind. What strategy is it to stand there, and not throw any punches in a fight? That's like trying to win a race by standing still.

[DrDuke]

The Ruiz vs Golota fight I always thought was strangely entertaining. There was a moment in there when John's dumbass trainer, and an interaction he had with the referee and then Don King afterward had me laughing my ass off. One of the funnier things I've ever seen in Boxing actually.

This fight was entertaining only on the moments, when Golota put Ruiz on his foulish butt. And, yeah, Ruiz' coach was at his best there, but it obviously wasn't the fight itself, so it can't be an argument for it being entertaining. And Ruiz should have been DQed alongside with his coach FFS!

To call Wlad's performance against Fury "tactical" is being extremely kind. What strategy is it to stand there, and not throw any punches in a fight? That's like trying to win a race by standing still.

Wlad failed to find a fitting gameplan due to Fury's awkwardness and because of his pragmatism Wlad didn't take a risk. Fury boxed in accordance on Wlad's actions, that was a part of his plan, so he didn't need more action to win this fight.

[gilgamesh]

The Ruiz vs Golota fight I always thought was strangely entertaining. There was a moment in there when John's dumbass trainer, and an interaction he had with the referee and then Don King afterward had me laughing my ass off. One of the funnier things I've ever seen in Boxing actually.

This fight was entertaining only on the moments, when Golota put Ruiz on his foulish butt. And, yeah, Ruiz' coach was at his best there, but it obviously wasn't the fight itself, so it can't be an argument for it being entertaining. And Ruiz should have been DQed alongside with his coach FFS!

To call Wlad's performance against Fury "tactical" is being extremely kind. What strategy is it to stand there, and not throw any punches in a fight? That's like trying to win a race by standing still.

Wlad failed to find a fitting gameplan due to Fury's awkwardness and because of his pragmatism Wlad didn't take a risk. Fury boxed in accordance on Wlad's actions, that was a part of his plan, so he didn't need more action to win this fight.

Fury won. It's Wlad's performance that was shameful. Fury's was merely unimpressive. If Wlad is the guy that stood still in a race, Fury is the guy that walked slowly and won it.

[Enlightened-One]

Floyd Patterson defended his world heavyweight title against an opponent that was making his professional debut (Pete Rademacher), with the obscenely mismatched underdog getting knocked down six times en route to suffering a sixth round KO.

Rademacher then suffered another KO loss in his second outing, when he failed to last four rounds against Zora Folley.

Joe Louis also engaged in numerous mismatches, such as his title defence against Johnny Davis, when he scored a first-round knockout over the hideously nauseating overmatched underdog, who’d previously been KO’d in three of his six bouts, which is bad considering he'd only ever competed in six fights.

Johnny Davis eventually retired after losing twenty of his twenty-five bouts, with nineteen of his losses coming by way of KO.

I could probably produce a massive list if I had enough time to do so today.

[Onetimeonly]

Wlad clinched as much as Ruiz.

[Paci]

Ruiz was really seven hugs, 4 jabs and sometimes a cross that sneaked passed while he rough housed is opponent.

The Ruiz-Johnson fight most be one of the worst fights ever. Not only did Ruiz do his Ruiz-a-dope but All those bloody lowblows a night long. It was just whaaa? Johnson throw that fight in the garbage since he was winning it. Shameful. Stupid. And typical.

Valuev-Holyfield was just cringe when this old bastard got robbed.

Would add most fights when that danish bearbarrel Brian Nielsen who fought some watched up contenders and sometimes a livebody or half-dead exchamp. His record is filled with old guys with not much left. Also, Holmes got so robbed in their fight.

[tiny_acres]

Wlad clinched as much as Ruiz.

Yet one is praised and the other ridiculed

[Tony1244]

Marciano-Walcott 2
Ali-Liston 2

The losers in these bouts took early naps.

[Onetimeonly]

Wlad clinched as much as Ruiz.

Yet one is praised and the other ridiculed

Probably be a close fight.

[oogiebe]

Yet one is praised and the other ridiculed

Probably be a close fight.

Wlad/Ruiz no doubt even worse than Wlad/Fury.

[DrDuke]

Wlad didn't always clinch as much as Ruiz, like in Povetkin bout, for instance. Furthermore, Wlad obviously was more skilled and versatile, than John. Also, he beat his opponents much more convincingly, with often scoring spectacular KOs. So, it's quite dumb not to see the clear difference between Ruiz and Wlad.

[Jaywheel]

Povetkin Wlad was a clinch fest what are you talking about?

[DrDuke]

Povetkin Wlad was a clinch fest what are you talking about?

Exactly about that actually.

[Jeff_lacy_ko]

Wlad seemed befuddled by furys awkwardness just like everyone else who fights him

The ref in the brewster v krasniqi fight

[margaret thatcher]

The all time grandmaster hugger is Mr. Jack Johnson

[oogiebe]

The all time grandmaster hugger is Mr. Jack Johnson

You are the crossover champ of the world!

[margaret thatcher]

Wlad clinched as much as Ruiz.

Yet one is praised and the other ridiculed

TBF, there were a lot of big differences between them too, they werent really similar at all apart from huggies, but i must say I find rUIZ to be a rather unappreciated fighter as far as accomplishments go. now he is a guy who really maxmized what he did with what he had

[Tony1244]

Wlad clinched as much as Ruiz.

Yet one is praised and the other ridiculed

True, but Wlad had power.

[Onetimeonly]

Wlad didn't always clinch as much as Ruiz, like in Povetkin bout, for instance. Furthermore, Wlad obviously was more skilled and versatile, than John. Also, he beat his opponents much more convincingly, with often scoring spectacular KOs. So, it's quite dumb not to see the clear difference between Ruiz and Wlad.

I didn't watch povetkin, but I've heard more people complain about his holding there than any other fight. Several people thought he should be dqd.